Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)

God bless the Attorney General. It is refreshing to find that an officer of the State is prepared to take a decision that is patently against the wishes of the Government. She has given the people an opportunity to make a decision and the House to hold a debate that would otherwise not take place. This is not a political point but holding a referendum is against the Government's wishes. It is an encouraging sign that, in some cases, the separation of power exists within the Cabinet.

The Taoiseach should view the referendum as an opportunity. Now that he is lumbered with it, what will he do with it? He should go to Brussels tonight with the view that his hand has been strengthened, not weakened. An enormous amount of trouble was taken in Europe to ensure that Ireland, which is regarded as a troublesome and truculent nation in many ways, would not have an opportunity to torpedo, albeit not sink, the treaty.

The Taoiseach should warn the other Heads of State tonight and tomorrow that there is a real danger to them of Ireland rejecting the treaty. He should use it as leverage for getting something that we would not otherwise get. We have constantly sought an opening or leverage to write down the debt with which we were saddled willy-nilly by the last Government - the Taoiseach was right in that respect - and possibly by the banks and developers. Deputy Boyd Barrett addressed that point. If the Taoiseach openly or, if he preferred, quietly started to negotiate for major concessions in the form of a write-off of the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes, passing this referendum would be much easier. This is the sort of language that Europe understands. It would be the first time that Ireland stood up for itself in Europe and said that if Europe did not give us this, we would not give it that.

There is no moral or pragmatic justification for repaying these bills. People will make a clear link between what Deputy Boyd Barrett rightly called a series of austerity budgets and treaties and Anglo Irish Bank's promissory notes and bondholders. If we can write off the debt, we can assure the Irish people that there will be less austerity.

I do not want the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, or whoever is with the Taoiseach, reporting that they rubber-stamped the treaty simply because that is how Ireland behaves in Europe. It may be difficult for the Taoiseach but the referendum gives him leverage. It is a threat. He does not need to go cap in hand to Europe today, tomorrow and Friday. He can tell Europe that the people, who do not like this treaty or its terms, are behind him. He can tell Europe that returning some of our economic sovereignty and writing off some of the debt would make delivering on the referendum easier. It is difficult for him to respond to this practical suggestion publicly, given that these negotiations are held behind closed doors. For the first time, however, he has leverage in Europe. I beg him to use it.

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